Can a state legislature imprison a critic and summon a high court judge to appear before it? Are religion-based personal laws above fundamental rights? Why did the Punjab Police organize a band to celebrate the defeat of the state in a case of sexual harassment? In this book, constitutional expert Chintan Chandrachud takes us behind the scenes and tells us the stories of ten extraordinary and dramatic legal cases from the 1950s to the present day that have all but faded from public memory. Chandrachud paints an unexpected picture of the Indian judiciary – the courts are not always on the right side of history or justice, and they don’t always have the last word on the matters before them. This entertaining book is an incisive look into the functioning of Indian institutions.

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